The Echo Chamber

What conservatives and liberals are saying about Obama's election victory.

(right) U.S. President Barack Obama addresses a campaign rally at Fifth Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati November 4, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (left) Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during campaign rally at Tampa International Airport on October 31, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.

The 2012 election will likely go down as having been a historic opportunity for both parties. Mitt Romney faced an incumbent with a mediocre job-approval rating who had presided over the worst recovery from a recession in decades. Barack Obama, meanwhile, faced a milquetoast challenger with a long history of pandering flip-flops. Either man could have conceivably been able to beat such a weak foe.

Now that President Obama has won, Republicans will be devastated by election results that could have gone the other way. Democrats, meanwhile, are euphoric at having threaded the needle to pull out a victory. Now that it’s all over, there will be gloating, declarations of mandates, and speculation about how great the next four years will be from the Democrats. From the GOP there will be despair, hand-wringing, and speculation about the dire consequences of this defeat for the American people.

Thanks to Twitter, we can watch the celebration and jubilation of the winning side and the recrimination and desolation of the losing side in real time!

Below are the live tweets of 20 liberal pundits, surrogates, candidates, and politicos on the left-hand side of the screen and 20 conservative pundits, surrogates, candidates, and politicos on the right-hand side of the screen. You can see a side-by-side comparison of what both parties are saying about the election results. Welcome to the echo chamber!